(Story Courtesy of Texas Lutheran Sports Information Department)
MARSHALL, Texas -- After a seven hour rain/lightning delay on Thursday, No. 9 Texas Lutheran opened the NCAA Tournament with a 4-0 shutout over Chapman late Thursday night in Marshall. Tournament Website
The Bulldogs (32-3) were powered by RBI from Caelee Clark, Annie Kay, Kylee Jack, and Reagan Hillis and a four-hit shutout performance from Sydney Ouellette.
Thursday's late night win was Texas Lutheran's 13th shutout of 2024.
TLU moved to 7-3 in NCAA Regional openers. In TLU's last five regional openers, the Bulldogs are outscoring opponents 37-6.
The Bulldogs struck early off the bat of Annie Kay. Following a leadoff infield single from Caelee Clark followed by a stolen base and Chapman throwing error to move her to third, Kay would drive in Clark following another error from the Panthers. Kylee Jack would double the Bulldogs first inning lead with a double down the left field line to score Kay. Reagan Hillis would drive in the final run of the first with a single up the middle to score Jack.
Caelee Clark added to the Bulldogs lead in the second with a two-out RBI single to score Linzee Leal to bring the game to its final score of 4-0. Clark would steal two bases in the inning before being stranded at third. With three stolen bases on the night, Clark brought her season total to 87 - moving her into third all-time across all divisions for single-season stolen bases in NCAA history, only trailing Chandra Edger (92; Shaw College, 1992) and LaTosha Stevens (96; Shaw College, 1992).
In the bottom of the fourth, TLU would make more history on the base paths as Linzee Leal would steal Texas Lutheran's 232nd base of the season, eclipsing their own previous NCAA Division-III record of 231 stolen bases set in 2022. On the season, Texas Lutheran is averaging 6.63 stolen bases per game.
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— TLU Softball (@TLUsoftball) May 17, 2024
With this Linzee Leal stolen base, the Bulldogs break their own NCAA Division-III single-season stolen base record from 2022 with their 232nd(!!) stolen base on the season!#TooLiveU | #PupsUp | #StolenBaseU pic.twitter.com/g41P9TJDsf
Sydney Ouellette moved to 7-2 on the year in an exceptional complete game, four-hit, one walk shutout to go with three strikeouts. With the win, Ouellette collects her 45th career win to tie Taylor Grissom (2013-16) for fourth all-time in program history.
At the plate, four Bulldogs recorded a hit, paced by Jack's 2-for-2, two double, one RBI day.
The Bulldogs advance in their regional to face East Texas Baptist in Friday's opening contest. The game will start at 11 AM. All streaming and live stats links available on tlubulldogs.com.
